Sam Simon was concerned that the writers were being "inefficient" with the episode; he thought the three plots of Homer and Marge's marriage, the birth of Bart, and Homer getting his job should have been extended into three episodes instead of one.
Homer going door-to-door selling knives were a reference to Cutco, which manufactured a brand of kitchen knives which got sold by mail order. Most sales were made by young people looking to gain experience.
This episode aired on December 26, 1991 (during the Christmas period), making it one of only two episodes to date to air over Christmas.
The staff were concerned over the animation of the characters' eyes in the episode, as the pupils were larger than normal, making the characters look "stoned", and the eyeballs were "too round" and large. The animation artists at the animation studio in South Korea, where much of the animation process takes place, had begun stenciling the eyes with a template, which according to Jeffrey Lynch resulted in "strangely round eyes which look a little too big sometimes and much too perfect. Which is very un-Simpsons like."
The episode marks the first appearance of Smithers' first name, Waylon, which comes from the puppeteer Wayland Flowers.